Eastland, Senator James

Senator Eastland, born in Doddsville and known as “Slippery Jim,”served in the Senate in 1941 and from 1943 to 1972. His legacy is one of opposition to equal rights for all Mississippians.Before serving in the Senate, he was trained as a lawyer and served in the Mississippi House of Representatives.He opposed civil rights legislation, specifically denouncing Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.Senator Eastland died on February 19, 1986, in Doddsville.

Sources:

Moye, J. Todd.Let the People Decide: Black Freedom and White Resistance Movements in Sunflower County, Mississippi. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.